Monday, 15 June 2015

800 years ago,
today, a truly historical act took place. For the first time ever in history, a
group of (for the time) relatively ordinary people held the king to account and
limited his power over ordinary people.

The Magna Carta,
which is Latin for the 'Great Charter' (not too inspiring or original a title,
I know, but hey, it was 800 years ago!) was put to King John of England by a
group of Barons and churchmen to be signed.

You could say that
if he hadn't, then he probably would not have lived much longer, but to sign a
document promising to limit his own powers was a genuinely historical moment.
Up to that point in history, the ruler was considered untouchable - they could
have whatever they wanted and frequently saw the people in their country as
simply playthings, there to provide whatever the ruler wanted.

The Magna Carta put
limits on that. And they were limits that, on the whole, still stand today. The
Magna Carta was a promise that:

The rights of the church
would be protected,

People would not be
imprisoned illegally, for no reason,

People would receive swift
justice, rather than sit in prison without end waiting for a trial,

There would be limits on the
amount of taxes the monarch could impose.

The Magna Carta, the
meeting near Windsor, 800 years ago today, is a moment in history and a
document that makes History important. This document had a huge impact then,
and throughout history. Your lives are different because of it.

The Magna Carta
failed, as the King tried to carry on his life as if it never mattered.
However, this triggered wars and a new Manga Carta was renewed a couple of
years later and since then has held those in power to account for how they
treat ordinary people.

The Magna Carta
became the starting point on which our entire legal system is based, and in the
18th Century, when the new colonies in America were shaping their independence,
theMagna Carta was used as the basis for
their constitution - the Magna Carta, therefore, shaped the American
Constitution and Bill of Rights.

A group of people
who were not happy with the way they were being treated held a king to account
800 years ago and changed the face of human civilisation forever!

And you wonder why I
frequently say that you hold enormous power in your futures - who knows what
you are capable of doing ,if only you have the conviction to do it…

Today, we have a
universal bill of human rights, a document that most of the world subscribe to;
the following is a list of substantive rights:

The right to life - no human
should be deprived of this right …

Freedom from torture

Freedom from slavery

The right to a fair trial

Freedom of speech

Freedom of thought

Freedom of movement

They are not that
different from the Magna Carta!

And in school? Well,
we have our code of conduct. This sets out the conditions we feel everyone in
the school should aspire to & how we should behave.

In principle, it is
our bill of rights, our Magna Carta.

You have the right
to come to school, without fear of being intimidated or picked on.

You have the right
to come to school and learn; to have the opportunities to aspire to be your
best.

From the code of
conduct:

All students are expected to treat
all other students with the same respect they would like others to show them.

Students will be expected to accept
others for who they are, not seek to limit, put down or control others through
intimidation, harassment or bullying. Any student who engages in this sort of
behaviour will be dealt with most severely, through the school’s behaviour
protocols. Students who believe that this sort of behaviour is perfectly
acceptable are not welcome at Sandymoor School and persistent or significant
behaviour of this sort will result in a student being asked to leave.

This includes actions and behaviour
that occur outside of school.

You have the right
to your own opinion, to have your own thoughts and vocalise them, but in the
context of not limiting another person's rights.

And that is where
things get tricky; you have a set of rights, we all have a set of rights, but
one right we all have is the right to be ourselves, be who we want to be,
without fear of intimidation or discrimination.

That means we also
have responsibilities; and the primary responsibility is to support and defend
the rights of others. To not behave in such a way that the rights of another
are limited or reduced.

And that is why the
code of conduct goes on to say:

Students who experience this sort of
negative, harmful, damaging behaviour need to understand that the school does
not tolerate it and as soon as it is reported it will be dealt with and the
victim will be protected from further harm. This is not ‘grassing’ but is
shining a light on unacceptable behaviour, exposing the bully to the light.

Students who witness or support
those who feel it is acceptable to behave in such ways and who do not report it
are just as responsible as the one carrying out the bullying & can expect
the same level of punishment. To see something ‘wrong’ happen and not act is to
accept the wrong behaviour.

There is the underlying assumption
that all students will want to make the most of the opportunities provided by
the school to grow and develop themselves. Therefore all students will be
expected to strive to participate in lessons and activities that others have
spent time and effort designing.

Within that context,
we have a group of students who are expected to uphold these rights. They have
the responsibility to lead by example and not to limit others.

And to not abuse the
power they have through their position. King John, 800 years ago, learnt what
happened when he tried to abuse his power.

The student Prefect
Team are here to support the school, to strive to help other students
experience the best the school can be and to support the staff in providing an
environment where everyone can feel safe.

The Head Boys &
Head Girls are expected to be examples of this, to strive to be the best they
can be. They are supported by the prefect team; they perform duties around
school, most importantly they are there to hold other students to account when
behaviour falls below our expectations. As I have said before, they do their
duties under my authority, so when they ask another student to stop doing
something, they are doing it as if it were me doing it. I hold them to high
standards, however, and if they act in a way that is less than I would expect,
then they can expect to be told so by me.

We also have a team
of students who take on responsibility in the house system. You are all in a
house and have a responsibility to help your house be the best it can be. The
House Captains will work to support the House staff in organising house events,
arranging inter-house competitions, etc.

And we have our
Microsoft Student Ambassadors. These students have been working hard to support
the ICT in school and are rolling out initiatives to help this further.

Monday, 1 June 2015

I found the
following quote the other day, attributed to Pele, regarded by many as one of
the greatest footballers of all time:

"Success is no
accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most
of all love of what you are doing."

It takes all of these to be successful.

Before half term, I
talked about what, in fact, success was - what it means to be successful and
challenged you with thinking about what success means to you.

Success, if defined
right, will make you happy, but the journey to get there is long and often
hard. There is another saying, not attributed to anyone, but frequently quoted
in lots of different ways:

"If something
is worth aspiring for, it is likely to be hard work to achieve; nothing that
takes little effort is ever, truly, worth very much."

There has been lots
in the news recently about the fact that the main thing missing in young
people's lives (i.e. you!) is aspiration - young people, apparently, have no
ambition, they don't aspire to be or do anything.

Now, working with
you & working with young people for over 25 years, I can say that this is
not true - the vast majority of you have ambition, you aspire to things &
frequently these are worthy things to aspire to as well.

So it's not a lack
of aspiration that is holding you back.

It is more likely
the journey ahead, the route you can see ahead of you and tee knowledge of the
difficulties ahead.

And this is where
Pele's quote comes in. Yes, it is going to be hard, and yes, you are likely to
fail at some things along the way. But that is good; that is life. If you are
not prepared to be challenged, if you are not prepared to try new things & not
always get it right then be prepared to be left behind while the world moves
forwards ahead of you.

This is a hard
message, but an important one - life does not owe you anything. We live in a
world surrounded by the media message that we have 'rights', and yes, we do,
but we also have responsibilities and failure to accept our part in anything
will, more often than not lead to you missing out on what you feel is your due.

If you look at
successful people, whether it's music stars, sportsmen or women, business
people, or 'just' famous people, and feel jealous because of their success,
don’t! They have all got where they are through pure hard work and
determination.

Whether it's the
musician who practices and practices their music until their fingers bleed,
wrap them in plasters and then keep going until they are the musical success
they want to be, or the sportswoman who wakes up at 4am every morning to put in
two or more hours a day of training before going to school, then a further two
hours training in the evening and more every weekend, until they get into the
team they have always wanted to. Every successful person has worked hard,
strived, frequently failed and picked themselves up again, refusing to accept
failure as an outcome.

In fact, as I'm on a
roll with quotes, another one for you:

You only truly fail
when you stop trying. . .

Hard work,
determination, the refusal to give up. These are all the key qualities that
define successful people, whatever their background or field of success.

And finally, my all
time favourite quote, one which I do hold to my heart and try to live by. It
sums up my approach to life & is from probably my favourite film ever.

"Do, or do not
… there is no try." (Yoda, from Star Wars Episode V)

It basically says
that if you say that you will try (as in "I'll try my hardest"), then
you are already accepting failure as an option. Either do something or don't.
If you do, then give it your all & do not give in until you have achieved.
Otherwise don't.

Monday, 18 May 2015

This is a good
question to ask, at this time of year in particular. All around the country,
thousands of students are taking public exams, the supposed outcome of the
factory that is school. The measure of success, for the schools concerned as
well as the students themselves, is resting on the performance of 16 - 18 year
olds. Exam season is as old as the hills; your parents, grandparents, even
great-grandparents and so on back hundreds of years have all been through this
period of time.

But is that what
success is? Passing a set of exams? Now, don't get me wrong; passing exams is a
product of our society and is a gateway to our futures. There is no getting
around that and unless (or until) a new system is devised, we are going to have
to ensure that we perform in these exams, whenever they are. Every teacher in
the school has had to go through what you have to go through. And the workplace
of the future, your future, is going to continue to be a tough one. Getting the
grades, passing the exams, is not an optional extra, but is a barrier to a wide
range of futures. You do need to pass the exams, whether they're GCSEs, BTECS,
A-levels, or anything else. That is, as is said in the business world,
non-negotiable.

But they are not,
then, an automatic pass to the future. There's so much more to being
successful, so many more ways to define it.

Success has two
meanings; the first is a relatively simple one - to accomplish a desired aim or
result. So, I can say that I am successful in terms of having helped to set up
this school; Sandymoor School exists andis recognised as a very good school. Result, as they say. Mission
accomplished.

But the other,
probably more common, definition of success is more tricky. This definition
says that success is to 'have achieved fame, wealth or social status'. Really?
Well, am I successful, then? No, I'm not wealthy, certainly am not famous and
what does it actually mean to have social status anyway?

The problem with
success is that it actually means something different for each and every
person. What is success for me may well mean absolutely nothing for you. I feel
that I am successful; I feel like I am doing a good job (although that's for
others to judge), am reasonably healthy, have enough money to enjoy nice
things, have nice holidays, etc., and have family and friends around me to
share the good times & support through the bad. I feel like I'm making a
difference, which is important to me. That's success. For me.

And that's the
point. What is success for you? It comes in a number of categories to start
with.

Friendship - are you
a good friend? Do you have people around you who accept you for who you are
& like you for who you are? Do you like people for who they are, rather
than what they can do for you?

Health - are you
living a healthy life? Do you eat the right sort of food? Do you ensure that
you exercise so your heart & lungs are kept healthy enough to see you
through the rest of your life?

Future - you may not
know what you want to be or do when you leave school, but you do need to face
the reality that this is going to happen, and soon. In fact, the vast majority
of you will be able to vote the next time we have a general election - you will
be adult enough to be asked to have a say in how the country runs, so you
should be adult enough to have a say in how you are then! As I said, exams are
not everything, but they are a barrier if you don't give them & the
lessons, the time they deserve. School is not a social event where how you look
or who you're seen with is more important than anything else. Go down that
route and you will be alone and miserable, with no exams and a limited future
ahead of you.

But there's so much
you can do about that. Believe that you can do anything you want. Yes, there's
a lot you don't know. There's a whole pile of stuff I don't know. But you know
what? If you refuse to ask someone for help, because you don't want to look stupid,
then you'll never know what you can do, and you'll never grow.

In every field,
whether it's sport, business, or entertainment, the message is clear. If you
are not prepared to put the work in, and to risk something you are not sure
about; i.e. try something new, something that you are not sure about, then
you'll never get anywhere.

Take Stephen
Gerrard; whether you are a reds fan or not, there is no doubt that, for over 15
years he has been successful at his club. Awarded an MBE by the queen, regarded
by everyone who should know as one of the very best players of his generation,
Gerrard has made the decision to move on, to go to LA (& who wouldn't, if
I'm honest!), to do something new and uncertain. He got where he is through
hard work, persistence and a determination not take second best or 'good
enough' in anything he did. And he got everything he deserved because of that.
There's a message for all of us. Nothing comes to us on a plate - if something
is worth wanting, then it's going to take hard work and determination to get
it. But beyond that, we also need to be sure we don't rest on our seats when we
think we have enough. Complacency, or laziness, can lead us to not challenge
ourselves and we always need to be checking that we are doing the best we can
be. That is why Gerrard is going to LA. (& for the weather, of course…).

So a simple message:
What does success look like for you? And not success now, where it could be
something as simple as having a certain group of friends, or having a specific
gadget, but what does success look like for you in 5 or 10 years? Don't let anyone
else pull you down or persuade you to be a certain way; instead, work out your
own way. It's a dilemma for each generation; every young person wants to be
individual, to not be like everyone else, and yet the herd mentality pulls us
always to following the trend. And because we don't want to stand out. But if
you like yourself, if you respect yourself and know you are doing the best you
can, then that is a great start. If you are prepared to put in the work, to
ensure you have the basis, the foundations on which your future will be built,
then that's even better. You don't need to know the detail of what you are
going to be like in 5 or 10 years, but you do need to plan for it. To ensure
you don't put in any limits by following someone else. After all, it's very
likely that in 10 years' time you will not see these people or have anything to
do with them . . . If you follow someone else's dreams, you run the risk of being left abandoned in the fog, with no knowledge of where you are or how to get out.

But what do we mean
by that & are we, actually, being honest anyway? Are we well? Or has the
question just become an unmeaning social construct, as simple as shaking hands?
What would you do if you asked someone and they actually said that they weren't
actually feeling so good … ?

And what does it
mean to be 'well' anyway? Let's think about wellbeing in three different areas:

The most obvious
one, the one definition of wellbeing that is, certainly, the oldest and most
often discussed:

Physical
Wellbeing

To be physically
well is, I would think, a fairly obvious one. To not be ill. To not have a
cold, or illness. We all know how we feel when we go down with something, be it
a cold, flu, or something more serious. We know, at this level, when we are not
physically well. And we have no problem seeking out help and support from
professionals about this. And even to physical injury; it is clear and obvious
when you have damaged something because you will probably be wearing some form
of support, or showing a limp, etc.

The thing is, with
physical wellbeing, on the surface, it is pretty clear whether you are well or
not. And when you're not, you will most likely be quick to seek help and
support.

Or is it? There is
another level of physical wellbeing that is less obvious - the healthy
lifestyle part of it. Are you well, in terms of eating healthy food, drinking
enough water, not eating or drinking stuff you shouldn’t (like energy drinks),
etc? Sandymoor is a Healthy School - we have a certificate & badge to show
that we care about things like this. That is why we have banned pot noodles
& similar foods in school; they are not healthy. They do not do you any
good. And it's why we are continually going on about getting you to bring in
bottles for water. Drinking water through the day is healthy. It contributes to
you being well . . .

If all you eat is
chocolate, sweets, crisps and junk like this, or have too much salt on your
food, or drink energy drinks, then you are, in fact, simple, hard fact,
damaging your inner body - causing damage to organs that are still growing and
developing; organs that you need to be working well for the next 80+ years.

And healthy, active
lifestyles are important too. All the research shows that we need to get our
bodies active and working hard on a regular basis, to keep, in particular, our
lungs and heart working well, It is important to get out of breath and sweaty on
a regular basis, through exercise. Again, because if you don't, your heart
& lungs are weakened & you need these to work well through your whole
life. . .

But Physical
wellbeing is only part of the story too. As a school, we have put the next
category in as equally important:

Academic
Wellbeing

This one doesn't
appear in any lists on wellbeing youcan
find on the internet, but as a school, we do believe it is important that you
are 'well' academically. Succeeding in school, achieving the subjects and the grades
you want &/or need, tasking responsibility for your learning and pushing
yourself now, is an important element of your wellbeing. Now and into the
future.

There is a direct
link between how you achieve in school and elements of your future life
success; Being successful in school, getting good grades has clear links to
better jobs and salaries in the future. And better jobs lead to better
lifestyles, with more choice for you.

But beyond that, we
are trying to give you the skills to be hungry to learn new things, to be able
to seek out new information and do something with it. To, in effect, be able to
survive the changing world we live in, where there will be, for example, jobs
you will be able to apply for that no-one in the world has yet imagined.

Doing well at school
is a very important part of being well overall. We want you to be, to aspire to
become the very best you can, but that requires you to have a positive attitude
to that as well - education, school, doesn't happen to you, you need to participate
and seize the opportunities we provide. You need to be hungry to get from us
the most you can, so you can be the best you can be.

You must want to
become better. But that rests on the last, and quite possibly, most important,
aspect of wellbeing:

Emotional
Wellbeing

Being emotionally
'well' is more complex than both the other categories put together and is much
harder to define. It is also the newest of the wellbeing elements. There are
still some people who deny emotional wellbeing is an issue anyhow - the
old-school mentality of stiff upper lip, or just plough on and get on with
things anyhow. The mental 'slap on the bottom'.

But study after
study shows that mental wellbeing, emotional resilience, self-awareness and
self-confidence are all keys to success and wellbeing overall. You can be a
straight A student, in the peak of physical condition, but still not be well if
you are not in control of your emotions or mental state.

And there is so much
in this area that we do not have the time to go through. But . . .

Emotional wellbing
is about being happy with yourself. Because of who you are, not because someone
else wants you to be something. And that can be a friend (although I would not
call someone who is only nice to you if you behave or look a certain way a friend
anyhow…), or the pressures of media, from the celebrities and superstars
through all the channels of social media.

Emotional wellbeing
is about accepting who you are. You are good enough and you do deserve to be
happy. You do not depend on others, or things, to be good enough. Accepting you
for who you are, looking in the mirror and liking what you see.

Emotional wellbeing
is about being in charge. Do not let anyone else control you, put you down or
stop you doing what you believe in. They are not a friend and are not someone
to listen to.

Emotional wellbeing
is about being resilient. In a world with anytime, anywhere access, where we
expect to get things now, rather than have to wait, it can be difficult to
believe, but things worth having are worth waiting for. You cannot be
everything you aspire to right here, right now. You need to work at it,
persevere and keep trying. There's a great phrase that says if you have not
failed, you've never tried to do something worthwhile, because things
worthwhile are hard.

So, are you well?
The good news is that you are in control. If you are well, in all areas, then
go you! Hats off to you! You have achieved it all; Can you please tell me
(& everyone else) how you did it? And write a book about it - there are
literally hundreds, if not thousands, or books out there on how to be happy. .
.

But if you're like
the rest of us, struggling in one, or even all three, of these areas, then that
is absolutely fine - you're human and alive. And in control. The trick is to
sit down and work out what you are not happy about and then do something about
it. And remember that you don't have to ever do it alone. It is not a failure
to admit that you need help, in any of these areas. After all, as I said, we
will all seek help in the first category - Physical Wellbeing. Why not in the
other two?

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

This week's assembly was on the topic of collaboration and working together:

There's
a phrase that has been around since forever; one that comes up time and time
again, but probably most recently in the popular media through the US version
of the X factor. You may remember (if you watch it) the girl group - Fifth
Harmony?

The
phrase is :We're better together

And
it doesn't matter that it's so well known, so 'true' that we tend to ignore it.
In fact, it is the most important concept out there & is, in fact, even
more fundamental to the school's ethos than my usual mantra of 'Respect' &
trust …

Because
the fact is we are not alone, we do not work, we could not survive, if we were
truly alone. No one person could live a modern life, with all its trimmings, on
their own - no one person can know the sum totality of human knowledge, from
medicine to engineering to agriculture.

We
rely on others all the time. We are a social animal. We always have been and
always will. From the first time we came down from the trees, our distant
ancestors worked out that they could defend themselves against the wild animals
by working together & they could feed themselves better by working as a
team to hunt. Society is based on the principle of division of labour, where
different people in the group take on different roles.

We
are better together.

The
very word, society, comes from a Latin word, socii, which directly translates
to the English word - allies. People who co-operate to help a group achieve
something they could not achieve alone. Like, for example, the collection of
countries that grouped together in the first half of the 1940's to defeat Nazi
Germany.

Our
school community is a society; we work best when we work together. Like the
wider society, there's not one person who can do everything to keep the school
running smoothly & the staff all work closely together to help this. The
result is that you all have the best possible opportunity to become the very
best you can be.

And
that's the point; there's so much more in the phrase 'Better Together' than
just passively letting others get on with their lives. We have to actively work
together, co-operate and collaborate to help others be the best they can be, so
that we become the best we can be.

Collaboration
is key.

It
is also one of six identified social skills that are already crucial and will
only become more important in the work place of the future. Your workplace.

For
the record, the 6 social skills identified are:

Collaboration

Knowledge Construction

Self-regulation

Real-world problem-solving
& innovation

The use of ICT

Skilled
communication

But collaboration is the really important one.

In so many ways, we are programmed to compete, to try
to outdo each other and overcome others to be 'the best'. And I'm not saying
that competition is bad; quite the opposite - competition is a good, healthy
thing and there are loads of situations where there can be only one winner, so
to develop the skills of competition are also crucial, but we have those,
almost built into our DNA, so don't need to spend too much time on these.

The problem is when we try to compete when there is
no race, no competition to participate in. When there is no one winner, only
losers. That's when collaboration is crucial.

In the classroom, for example. Here at Sandymoor, we
have tables in clusters, where you work alongside and around colleagues. There
is no competition there; or at least there shouldn't be… If someone on your
table doesn't know something, there is nothing to be gained from gloating and
letting them struggle, whereas if you help them, they can then carry on and
learn and grow. And the flip side? Well, when you need help because you don't
understand something, they will be more inclined to help you too. As a result,
everyone gets better. Win-win, if you ask me.

There's another great phrase I use time and time
again, which also emphasises the importance of collaboration;Shoulders of giants

It dates back almost 900 years, where a French
philosopher first wrote it down, but I heard it by reading about one of my
heroes - the famous Physicist; Isaac Newton. Both used it in the same context,
to say that we can only see further, understand more, than those before us
because we are standing on their shoulders, using their knowledge and
understanding to make sense of what we are seeing. We are like dwarves, seeing
further only because we are standing on the shoulders of giants.

We become bigger, better, by working with others,
working alongside them and helping them as they help us. Our ancient ancestors
learnt that, when attacked in their caves by packs of wild animals, so why is
it sometimes so hard to do it now?

Try it.
Rather than fighting others, putting them down to
make yourself look bigger, or refusing to help someone because you don't like
them, try reaching out and helping them. At the very least, you never know when
you might need them to repay the favour.

Saturday, 11 April 2015

In the modern world,
we use technology to replace old ways of doing things all the time,from the
introduction of cordless telephones, through to mobile phones and, of course,
the replacement of the typewriter with the computer.

But as we can see
from the diagram (called the SAMR model of technology integration), simply
replacing how we've done things in the past is the lowest level of utilising
the power of modern technology.

And we can clearly
see the changes, moving towards augmentation, with text messaging, and tools
like PowerPoint changing how we present and communicate, but these are 'just'
enhancements to how things have always been done, rather than actually changing
how things are done - transformation. That's not saying that this is a bad
thing, but it is frequently cited as a reason why technology in education is
costly and has limited impact. It is only when we go into true transformation
that we can begin to see the true impact of technology on education.

At Sandymoor, we
were set up with the strap line of being a 'Fresh Approach to Education' and
everything we do is explored from the beginning, asking if this is the best way
to do something, or just the 'normal' way things are done. This has led to us
keeping a lot of things the way they are normally done - we are not into
throwing out the baby with the bath water, after all! We even have some very
traditional systems, like a house system, prefects and formal assemblies. But
where we see a benefit for doing things differently, we embrace the change, and
plan to embed the change in how we do things. The use of technology is firmly
in this bracket, because we believe that we can only prepare our students for
their future by embracing technology and transforming learning through
technology.

One of the first
things a visitor to the school notices is the fact that we don't have
traditional whiteboards on the walls and have no 'Interactive Whiteboards'
(IWBs) anywhere. This is because these tools are firmly in the bracket of
substitution (or, in the case of the outdated IWB, occasional augmentation);
from blackboard & chalk to whiteboard & pen, then to 'interactive'
whiteboard, with digital pens. And yes, students could interact with these
whiteboards, but surely that's what students have always done when asked to
come and write on the board? There is no transformation there! And there really
is no difference in a student copying out from a teacher's chalked writing or a
writing from a board pen - there is still the relatively mindless, static
copying out of information, the student passive and the teacher the active in
the act.

But from this summer
term, we are taking the transformation on to the next level. We have rolled out
digital exercise books to all students. These are in the form of OneNote
ClassBooks, integrated into our Office 365 ecosystem. Students can access their
digital exercise books from any web-enabled device, giving them full freedom to
use their own personal devices. We are enforcing a system where each student
has to bring with them a device to lessons; these can be their own device, or a
leased, or loaned device through the school, but they need to have something to
access their digital exercise book.

So, how does this
transform the learning experience? Well, the ClassBook provides a whole range
of additional ways for engagement and collaboration. First of all, the
ClassBook allows the students to add text, video and audio to their notes,
making their work much more multi-media focussed. We already have, for example,
students creating audio notes in Spanish for their homework, so they can
practice their vocabulary without being embarrassed by their peers. It also
enables teachers to provide much richer feedback; with audio notes replacing
the red (or if trendy, green) pen. It also allows students to record videos or
pictures of experiments in science, or instructions in technology.

There are also
collaboration spaces, where students can work together on projects, copying the
finished work into their own space for posterity at the end. And to cap it all,
the teacher has a whole section that becomes, in effect, a living, growing text
book, where class notes, additional material and extension work available for
all students to access.

And if a student
wants to work on paper, or forgets their device? Simple - they can quickly and
easily upload a photo of their work into their ClassBook, again keeping it for
posterity. This happens to make marking so much easier too; the teacher doesn't
have to carry home stacks of exercise books as everything is online in their
ClassBook.

So many young people
struggle with handwriting, and the handwriting becomes a barrier to learning,
something that causes barriers to go up; in these cases, the technology opens
doors for students, as opposed to closing them.

Some will say that
this is all well and good, but is at the cost of traditional skills. Not
necessarily; handwriting is still an important skill to develop and one that
the use of digital exercise books enhances, rather than degrades. This is
because we can separate the skill from the content - when handwriting is being
taught, this becomes the focus and rather than being assumed to be taught can
become something that is explicitly developed. The same for grammar and
spelling, where it can be easier to see, and correct, without impacting on the
content. The development of spelling and grammatical skills is not degraded by
the use of technology. Again, by the fact that we separate the knowledge &
understanding from the skills development, we can spend more quality time
focussing on and enhancing student understanding of the importance of grammar
& spelling.

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

With the Easter
Break looming, the clocks now back on British Summer Time and the first
glimpses of new growth on the trees and plants, I certainly have started
looking forward to warmer weather, longer days and sun …

But this is because
we are coming out of winter. The seasons tick off their timing, winter to
spring, spring to summer, summer to autumn and then back to winter's icy grip.
The revolving door of time, the ever changing, yet unchanging characteristic of
nature, the reassurance of the changing seasons. The seasons change, but we are
reassured by their predictability.

What about real
changes? Changes that make a difference and cannot be reversed? Growing up is
one such change, for example. As I have said before, we start off life as a
completely helpless babe, entirely dependent on others for everything and as we
grow, we start to be able to make choices, take control of things. And it's
then that we discover that being in control is hard. We don’t always get what
we want, when we want it, so we learn to hate change. Change becomes a signal
for unpleasantness, for more difficult things.

But we have to fight
that; change is the very essence of the universe, at the very centre of
everything and is impossible to fight. If we waste time energy & effort in
holding back change, we are wasting opportunities and chances that pass us by.
Like King Canute, trying to hold back change will only result in futility as
profound as trying to hold back the tide.

(Historical aside:
King Canute was a king who reigned over 1,000 years ago - a Viking king, who
controlled what is now modern day Denmark, Norway & England - one of the
most powerful people in the world. He was thought to be a good king, with great
power, but even he could not control the changing nature of time, as
demonstrated in his attempting to stop the tide from coming in…)

Change is,
paradoxically, unchanging. There will always be change, whether it's global
warming, the next version of Windows, or new houses growing up where there were
once fields. Change, the only reliable, unchanging fact of living.

So how do we respond
to change? As I said, we naturally learn to fear it, to see it as something to
dread. But if we change our mindset, look ahead and seek out the opportunities
the change brings, we can make so much more of what the future delivers us.

As a school, we are
growing, changing, rapidly. That is what we have to do; moving from the
temporaries, into this amazing building, was a huge change. And it was not
simply looked forward to; some were worried about the space, having got used to
the smallness of the old buildings, for example, and feared losing their way,
or being caught somewhere they shouldn't be when we moved. And the new students
& staff. But such is the way of things and we all adapted and now feel like
this building is home, is our 'normality'. So we are now planning to grow
again; we have over 100 new students joining us this coming September, and
after Easter, we will start the process of getting to know them, so they feel
part of our family before they even arrive. It will have a lovely new feel to
the school, with almost 300 students in the corridors and classrooms! New
friends and new opportunities.

As you know, we have
also, last week, started to recruit all the new staff who will be joining us to
help you all on your journey. We have, to date, had over 150 applications for 9
posts. Last week, we interviewed 23 people, putting them through a rigorous
process to make sure we recruited only the best to join us in our growth.

(I am not arrogant
enough to think that everyone who applied for a job here will read this, but if
any are, I would like to thank them for taking the time to apply; it is not an
easy task to find the time to complete an application form, think about the upheaval
that moving jobs will make, and apply, in the complete uncertainty of the
outcome. Everyone I met on interview was, in their own right, a truly unique
individual, and not once did I think I had chosen badly to shortlist. To the
successful candidates, I look forward to working with you as we continue to
grow and develop this amazing school & to the unsuccessful ones, I wish you
all the best in your own personal journeys - who knows; our paths may cross
again.)

The process
continues, as we recruit more staff this week & after Easter; in September,
we will have over 50 people working in the school, all committed and passionate
about helping everyone here be nothing but the best they can possibly be.

One of the questions
I posed to the candidates last week was 'What, actually, do teachers do?'. This
question was inspired, I must admit, by the great performance poet, Taylor Mali
- look him up; he's simply amazing!

A simple question,
with a hard answer, especially one that is short and to the point. But one
candidate hit the nail on the head, and that is why we appointed them. The
answer they gave was:

To be strong for the
students, especially when they can't be strong themselves.

That is, indeed,
what we are about!

We do have one major
change after Easter, one to do with technology. I have stated this time and
time again, and now we are getting there. After Easter, you will all be
required to have a device, whether a laptop, ipad, tablet, or whatever, in the
lesson. The teachers will not be able to provide you with one from a trolley.
There are 4 ways you can do this:

Bring in your own
device. This is by far the best option, in truth, as it's yours, then, and you
know how it works. Your parents will need to check their home insurance, but it
is usually possible to add this to most policies.

If you don’t have
one, then your parents can lease one through the school. ParentMail letters
went out a few weeks ago about this & for about £10 per month, you can have
a device to use, with insurance included & it is yours to keep.

Or your parents can
loan a device from the school. These cannot be taken home, however, but will be
yours, personally, for your use during the day.

Or, finally, you can
go to Mr Thow or Mr Connor and book out a device for use. This can only by at
the start of school, or during break or lunch, however, and will not be a
personal device - you will be given what is available.

But not having a
device will not be accepted and will be followed up with a consequence, the
same as if you had forgotten a pen or pencil. This technology is your future in
work & we are building systems to help you have that important edge when it
comes to it.

Monday, 16 March 2015

Now, I know that
there has been so much written about the topic of 'being yourself', so many
self-help books, and so many people offering to help you 'find yourself'. This
is a hot topic, one that many people keep away from. But it is important and
while I am sure that the vast majority of what I say will go in one ear and out
the other, I do ask that you listen today.

Over the last few
weeks, the newspaper I read has been launching a campaign called 'Time To
Mind', to try to make the government look at youth mental health and wellbeing
much more seriously than ever before. We all recognise that growing up is hard,
but it has become so 'true', so embedded in our culture, that as adults, we
tend to take the line that it was hard for us, so you just need to get on with
it and it will soon be all over - it all gets better when you're an adult.

The trouble is, this
is wrong on two counts. First of all, just because of the amount of money spent
on 'self-help', the number of books offering to solve all our problems, clearly
shows that, in fact, being an adult isn't the answer to any problems! If you
have not got yourself sorted as a teenager, you'll not be sorted as an adult,
either.

But more
importantly, things are, actually, harder for you than they were for us.
Growing up is hard. The pressures of finding out who you are, wrestling with
self-doubt, fighting to have an opinion, to be able to make decisions, are all
the same as when we were young. But society has changed. Things are harder. As
a generation, you are more aware of the need to achieve as an adult than ever
before - the infringement of media, television, music & movie stars all
make us aware that there is so much more for us to aspire to. The high profile
nature of exams, and the need to succeed, are much more to the front of
people's minds, and then there's the 24-7 nature of the internet, selfies,
online chat, body image and bullying make a toxic mix that can swamp anyone.

The thing is,
however, you can take control - you can do something about this. You are, in
fact, in control and can make decisions about your health.

I was reading an
article over the weekend about a woman who really got a bad deal online … she
was, as a teenager, just browsing through YouTube, as you do, and saw a link to
a video titled the ugliest woman in the world. Clicking on it, as you would, it
slowly dawned on her that the video was about herself! Now, I don't know about
you, but that would simply be devastating - I do not know how she did it, but
she took control, set up a website and YouTube channel to let people know who
the ugliest woman in the world was & it now has almost a quarter of a
million followers & has given talks around the world on how to stand up for
yourself, how to define yourself, rather than being defined by others. Lizzie
Velasquez is her name - look her up.

And that is the
point. As a school, we hold Healthy School status, and this is in recognition
of the fact that we care about your health. And want you to have the facts and
skills to do something about your health. And health is not just about eating
the right things and taking exercise. Yes, these are important, but doing
something positive to make your mind healthy is actually more important than
anything. How you are feeling, what you are thinking, has such a powerful
control of your body! There are studies after studies that show clearly that
positive thinking, a healthy mind, has huge impact on everything else. At the
most extreme, a survey of the mental state of cancer patients shows that, to
put it simply, the patients with a positive self-image, a positive mental
outlook and a clear determined mind, knowing that they are in control were more
likely to survive treatment, and go on to live better lives, than those with
negative outlooks.

But what does that
mean to us? Well, it is simple, and, in fact, links to my last assembly on
labels. First of all, you need to know, to understand, to believe that no-one
can hurt you, mentally, without you actually giving them permission to do so.
Yes, physically, someone can punch, kick or assault you. If they do, our policy
is simple - whoever makes the first physical assault, whatever the grounds, is
issued with a minimum of a one-day external exclusion. There is never a reason
to physically attack another person.

But mentally? That
is where you are in control. First of all, you can choose to take yourself away
from the situation, to put a distance between you and them. Yes, with the
internet, this is harder, but almost all chat room / messenger technology
specifically allows you to block individuals.

Secondly, you can
report it and seek help. Yes, I know, you are all, almost without exception,
going to tell me that this never works, that all it does is bring on more, and
anyhow, it's grassing and you don't grass.

Well, let me tackle
all three of these areas:

It does work.
Simple. Here, we have a clear code of conduct that states that intimidation,
harassment or bullying are not tolerated. Any student who feels it is fine to
intimidate another, to call them names, to make their life horrible, is not
welcome here. There is a big 'but' here, however. You need to not retaliate. To
not let the words make you angry. Instead, report, report, report. The school
systems for you to report are simple - go online and fill out an incident
report and it will be dealt with.

Second; it will only
bring on more if you let it. As soon as you report it, someone will
investigate, will talk to people, will provide you with support. The people
picking on you will try to have a go at you, will try to stop you reporting it,
but only to save their own skin!

And this leads me to
the last; grassing. As a concept, I do understand it, I do get why it has
become accepted, but as a way to do things, it always strikes me as a really,
really stupid standpoint to take. Especially if you are a victim of harassment.
The only people who win if grassing stops people acting are the bullies, the
people making your lives miserable are being protected by your wrong impression
that it's a bad thing to tell.

If someone is
calling you fat, or stupid, or ugly; if they are spreading rumours about you,
or posting messages about you online, then we will act. Trying to put people
down in order to make yourself look better is the lowest, nastiest, worst
characteristic as person can have and there is no space for such people here.

So, take control,
don't let others control how you feel and look for the good things to focus on.
That way, you can be happy and achieve whatever you put your mind to.

To finish, then, a
couple sections from two poems. The writers of the words are separated by over
150 years, but the message is the same from both people - take control of your
life, be in charge of who you are and don't let anyone else dictate to you who
you are.

First of all, a few
lines from a poem I've read before: If, Rudyard Kipling.

If you can keep your
head when all about you

Are losing theirs
and blaming it on you,

If you can trust
yourself when all men doubt you …

If you can bear to
hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to
make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things
you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build
them up with worn out tools …

And finally, I am
sure you will quickly work out who wrote these lines:

I stay out too late

Got nothing on my
brain,

That's what people
say.

But I keep cruising

Can't stop, won't
stop moving

It's like I got this
music

In my mind

Saying "It's
going to be all right."

Because the players
are going to play,

And the haters are
going to hate

Baby, I'm just going
to shake,

I shake it off.

And if you didn't
get it, that was Taylor Swift, "Shake it Off". . . (I bet you've never heard her quoted like that before...)

Monday, 2 March 2015

Labels are
everywhere and we use them all the time. They are used in so many ways that the
whole concept of labelling is embedded deep into our culture - you can't go
anywhere without seeing labels or being labelled.

And if we look way,
way back, it becomes clear why we label - as a species, when we came down from
the trees and started to explore the world around us, the bewildering array of
new and different things could well have ended our evolutionary progress before
we got very far indeed, as it so frequently has. The thing is, the world is
such a complex place, so full of new things, that our brains could easily
become overwhelmed by the variety. Or we could become so limited that our very
existence would be at risk. As an example of this, there is a species of bird
that will only eat a specific fruit from one type of tree. It doesn't matter
that there are other trees, or that there are other fruit that this bird could
eat, but no; they do not have the ability to look and compare and judge that
another fruit is, in effect, the same or similar to the one they eat. And as a
result, they are now at risk of extinction because the fruit from this one tree
is changing due to global warming and they are not recognising the new fruit as
something edible.

We must have, at
some point, evolved the ability to look at things and recognise similarities -
that fruit looks similar to this one, which I like, so I will probably like
that one too. . . And so we evolve.

It's also important
to be able to compare and contrast things so that we can spot things even if
they don’t look like we expect them to do so. If I'm hunting an elephant, for
example, I need to be able to find the elephant, even if it's partially hidden in
a bush; this can only happen because our brains can look at a bush with an
elephant hiding in it and spot the patterns that would indicate that there is
an elephant in there. If we didn’t have that compare and contrast ability, we
would not have seen the elephant, because we would only be looking for a whole
elephant, like the one we have a mental picture of in our heads.

But this essential
skill has evolved and become more complex as our world has become more complex
and has changed as our society has changed. We are, by nature, a cataloguing,
list making, labelling animal because it is what got us where we are. The trouble
is, we can't stop labelling!

Labels can be useful
- the labels on medicine telling us not to take it, the labels (or signs)
warning us about danger, are all perfectly useful. Scientists who study
patterns, looking for new discoveries; the elusive cure for cancer, say, or the
solution to the world energy crisis will be found by labelling, cataloguing and
looking for those patterns…

And labelling
happens all the time in our day to day lives; in the supermarket, the food
labels helping us make healthy choices, labels that help us clean our clothes
effectively at the right temperature and in the right way. Labels can even be
pretty harmless; I am wearing labels; my watch, my suit, even my socks, are all
labelled, branded. So what? I can buy the most expensive item of clothing and
it could well have been made in a factory somewhere in the world right next to
a similar item being made for Primark - how do I know?

But this is where it
starts to go wrong, and labelling can be something harmful. I, personally, do
not think that I am any better than someone else, just because I am wearing an
Armani watch, but the wearing of specific labels can frequently be interpreted
in this way. It is why so many schools have very strict rules on clothing;
because there are some people who feel that by wearing a particular brand of
shoes, or trainers, that this makes them better, bigger than someone else. I do
not understand this logic at all, but it is there, in quite a significantly
childish way. And it is promoted by advertising and the media - the footballer
who promotes a particular brand, the supermodel who wears a particular perfume.
I am not naive enough to think that just because I might buy David Beckham's
latest clothing item that I will suddenly look like him … …

When we label to
discriminate, to separate and isolate, it becomes something wrong and harmful.
Our original evolutionary drive to compare was to help us see similarities, but
we far too frequently use this essential skill to separate and isolate. To label
myself a Manchester United fan, for example, would isolate myself from those of
you who follow other local teams. (This is why I am a Rugby Union fan &
refuse to be drawn into the tribal labelling that exists in football).

We are all labelled,
all the time. This is to understand how we are, how we behave, but if we lose
sight of the fact that we are all, in fact, individuals, with our own unique
set of strengths, weaknesses and priorities, then we see that labelling people
is pretty useless and frequently counterproductive.

That is why, here at
Sandymoor, we refuse to label people. We do not have sets, and you are not
taught in groups that label you. Instead, your teachers treat you all as
individuals, tailoring your experience to your needs.

That is why we hold
you, individually, to account here at Sandymoor. We do not label you and treat
you differently just because of who you are. Too many schools do that. The 'Oh,
that's so and so - they always behave like that' or the 'Don't try that - it'll
be too hard for you'. This is so important, because when people do limit us,
they put chains on our imagination that are hard to break. I remember to this
day a senior teacher at my school saying to my parents that there were limits
to my future - this person stated that sixth form would be of limited use to me
because I wasn't bright enough to go to university … and here I am, with three
degrees to my name … believe me when I tell you that I will never limit you, or
let anyone else limit you.

At Sandymoor, we
will never limit you or assume you have boundaries to your potential - instead,
we will always work with you to help you achieve what you desire. As I've said
many times before, the only limit to your future is your imagination. And some
hard work ,of course, but without imagination, without a goal to aspire to, all
the hard work in the world will get you nowhere.

Bullying,
intimidation, harassment - all the things we have a zero tolerance policy
towards - all start with making assumptions, labelling people, not looking at
the individual, but treating them like someone, something different. Bullying
starts with trying to limit the victim, let them feel that they are somehow
less, somehow deserving of it all. And we will not tolerate this in any area.

So, at Sandymoor,
no-one will ever say to you that you have limits on what you can achieve.
No-one will ever put you in a class and then put a limiting label on that
class. This is why we do not set, why we do not have a top, middle & bottom
group. No-one will ever say that you shouldn't try something because it's
beyond you or that you would never be able to understand. Instead, we promise
to work with you, alongside you, to help you achieve your dreams and
aspirations. Dare to dream, dare to aspire and we will support you all the way.

Monday, 23 February 2015

The first assembly after half term was a revisit of rules and responsibilities;

Ok,
so we all hate following the rules, don't we? The signs that say 'Please don't
walk on the grass' make me want to, just because the sign says I can't!

But
following rules is part of being one of a group, whether that's a family, a
work place, a country or a school. The 'rules' are a set of guiding principles
that a particular group of people agree to follow & they are not always
bad!

Especially
because a world with no rules at all would not be a good idea. It may sound
great when you first think about it, but after a while, it quickly becomes more
of a nightmare. The film series The Purge, where, for one day a year, there are
no rules, shows what a world would be like without the mutual agreement to
follow a set of laws. . .

Think
about games for example. When we, as a family, play games, the youngest always
wants to play by a slightly different set of rules; maybe that's why she always
wins at Ludo … !

Or
if we look at sports, all sports have a set of rules, in order for the game to
progress with a clear flow and outcome. And yes, I know it's popular for the
overpaid so-called stars of football to challenge the rules, but all their
posturing and complaining doesn't affect the outcome or sway the referee. (as
an aside, this is one of the reasons why I prefer rugby - one of the rules of
rugby is that the referee's decision is final and binding, so there's never the
toddler-like tantrums when someone falls foul of a rule during the game).

And
there are rules we follow just by being part of the country. It's part of being
'British' - the unwritten rule that we will follow the rules, or laws,and suffer the consequences if we're caught
breaking them.

I
may not like them all, I may not even agree with some of them, but that is
completely irrelevant. As an adult member of society, I have to abide by the
laws of the land. If I don't like it, I have the freedom to leave and go to
another country. Or I can petition, become active and work to change the rules.
Maybe I could even become a politician, go to parliament and work to change the
rules. People have done so before; the abolition of slavery, equal rights for
women, universal education and health care for all, etc. . .

But
in the meantime, I accept the rules and live by them, or suffer the
consequences if I don't. I know, for example, that if I am caught speeding on
the roads, I will be fined & I know that, no matter how urgent, I must
never answer an email or text while driving. It may be an important meeting
that I'm running late for, but to speed to get there is not allowed by the
rules & there are consequences if I'm caught breaking them. Even if I don't
know it's against the rules; not knowing is not an excuse. . . There are people
who think it is perfectly fine to break the rules on a regular basis - shoplift
something just because they like the look of it & don't have the money to
buy it, perhaps, or to drive without insurance because they can't afford the
premiums. But these people are, in fact, hurting everyone else - goods in shops
cost more because the shop has to make up for the lost income & my
insurance for my car costs more to cover the people who cause accidents without
insurance.

To
decide to not follow the rules is a truly selfish act, thinking entirely of
yourself, rather than others & not caring about harming others in the
process.

And
when you go to work in a company, you enter into a contract. The contract
states that, providing you perform certain tasks, then you will get paid. But
along with that, every company will have a set of rules that every employer
agrees to abide by in order to be paid. In most companies, these rules are more
commonly referred to as a 'Code of Conduct', because it's assumed that it's
more of a mutual agreement to behave and act in a certain way in support of the
company.

There's
a lot in the news at the moment about how some politicians are not following
their code of conduct and are suffering the consequences.

At
Sandymoor, we have a Professional Conduct document that sets out the standards
that all employees are expected to work with in order to support everything the
school stands for.

And
as students, you, too, have a set of standards that you are expected to work
with as a Sandymoor student. You signed a home-school agreement when you first
joined the school that sets out some of those standards of conduct. These are:

Come to school expecting and
wanting to learn.

Approach each lesson in a
positive manner, ready to listen and to be involved.

Bring to each lesson all the
books and equipment required.

Keep books and files in
suitable order within school or at home.

Be conscientious in the
completion of work in school or at home.

Want to make progress and to
seek help and advice when necessary.

Take
time in thinking about how they learn best.

You
also agree to work with us in your standards of behaviour and dress & these
are also written out and have been shared with you and your families. By being
a Sandymoor student, you agree to live according to these rules, this code of
conduct. And you agree to accept the consequences of not doing so.

I
have spent some not inconsiderable time over the half term break preparing a
single document that has the Professional Conduct expected from everyone who is
part of the Sandymoor Community, both staff and students. This single document
is designed to be a one-stop location for all our conduct & it is designed
to show the (you, the) students that we are not expecting anything
significantly above and beyond what any employer would expect of an employee
(& indeed what I expect of every member of staff at Sandymoor).

And
when you are challenged by a member of staff, either about your uniform, your
behaviour or the quality of your work, all that is happening is that the member
of staff is following their code of conduct in pointing out to you that you are
not. . .

Monday, 2 February 2015

Assembly this week focussed on the remembrance of the liberation of the Death Camps, 70 years ago, how it & the war as a whole still impacts us today and then reflected on the lessons we can still learn.

For us as a school, we need to remember that Hitler was a bully who was allowed to get away with what he did because others let him. My assembly contained a number of images and a video, so I am trying it out in a different format:

Monday, 26 January 2015

Why do we limit
ourselves? Why do we tend to say 'I can't' quickly before we say 'I can'?

It is something we
all suffer from and it is quite possibly the one main contributing factor in
limiting out potential, limiting what we can achieve. Why do we do it?

There are many
different theories, but all of them point to the fact that we can do something
about it if we truly want to, which is good. That we often don't try because we
feel we can't do it.

Some of us limit
ourselves because we've been told, time and time again that we're no good. And
we start to believe it. Maybe in primary school, or in a club, we try
something, fail at it, and then someone says we're no good, so we believe them
and stop. When someone we respect, someone in authority, tells us that we are
no good at something, we tend to believe them, particularly when the evidence
points to them being right.

At school, I was
told that I would never really amount to anything; a senior teacher told my
parents that there was little point me doing hard A-levels as I was most likely
only going to fail them & maybe I should look at a safe local job for after
school. Something inside of me told me that was wrong & I knew I wanted
(& was able to) achieve more, but if I'd not thought that, I would not be
here now.

The trouble is,
there is a myth that we only use a small part of our brain & we can't do
anything about that. Even scientists in the past felt that there was a limit on
our use of the brain; the concept of IQ (Intelligence Quota), formedby psychologists just over 100 years ago, was
a test used to identify students in France who would not succeed in the newly
created compulsory education system. It has since been used to identify people
capable of being forced into the army in the first world war and is still,
today, used in the USA to identify whether or not a criminal is 'intelligent
enough' to have known that what they did was wrong when they murdered someone
and so deserved the death penalty or not.

And in popular
culture, there's an amazing film; Lucy, with Scarlett Johansson as the lead
role, who accidently takes a new drug which expands the use of her mind to
100%. A great film, but one that reinforces the limit to our use of our brain
without help from drugs or stimulants.

As science develops,
we are more and more able to understand how our mind works; it is clearly still
by a million-fold, the most complex object in the world to date and each and
every one of us has a unique set of patterns in the billions of neural pathways
that make up our mind, our memories stored as electrical impulses lighting up
our brains. We can now 'watch' these signals fly around the brain in real time,
and watch parts of our brain light up as we perform simple tasks. We know
better than ever what parts of our brain do now and how they link together. And
we know one important thing now that our ancestors of 100 years ago didn't:

That the brain can
grow.

We can develop our
brain, just like any muscle, and make it better; in any way we want. We don't
need to look to drugs like the character Lucy, in order to do more with our
brain than we do now.

So we do not have
innate intelligence. You are not, intrinsically, cleverer than I am, or better
than me at things. Our ability is not fixed, so if we can't do something, it's
just that we've not learnt how to do that yet.

What's funny,
however, is that we know this in some areas of our life. When we get a 'Game
Over' message on our PlayStation, we don't think we're no good and give up.
Instead, we pick up the controller and click the 'start again' button,
determined to not make the same mistake again that got us kicked out of the
game last time.

The trouble is, we
do have innate preferences; some of us find it easier to work with words than
numbers, some of us work better with images or pictures than words. These are
all subtle differences that make us unique. I am not so good with languages, but
it did not stop me going back to evening school to learn a foreign language
even though my MFL teacher at school told me I was hopeless and couldn’t learn
a language. I am not brilliant, but I can get by in France now. Because I did
not believe that I couldn't do it.

A few years ago, I
was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship by the US government to visit
schools in New York & Washington (The International Visiting Leaders
programme), where I met some amazing students, teachers and leaders. One school
in particular, in Washington, sticks in my mind - they have a huge sign in the
entrance way to the school, which is seen by students, staff and visitors every
day. It reads:

"If you don't
understand, it's not your fault"

I think this is the
most powerful statement ever. It means that, whatever you are studying,
whatever you are doing, it's never, really, 'Game Over', so long as you are
willing to pick up the controller again and have another go. You will certainly
progress further each time and will, eventually, get there, so long as you
don't give up.

But it takes one
thing that is rapidly becoming a very hot topic in education & society in
general. It's given an American phrase; Grit. Grit is the determination to keep
on going, to not give up. To re-start the game and learn from our mistakes.

Monday, 19 January 2015

On the 18th January, I was honoured to be a speaker at the Microsoft Education Leaders' Briefing; the ELB is a forum for presenting the latest thoughts on the integration of technology and education and they are attended by people from across the globe. We had been invited to participate in this as one of the UK's 6 Global Showcase Schools, identified by Microsoft as being world innovators in the use of technology to change young people's life's for the better.

Below is the text of my presentation:

Good Morning &
Thank you. My name is Andy Howard and I have now been teaching for 25 years! An
awful lot has changed in that time, but an awful lot has remained the same. I
now find myself as Principal of Sandymoor School, one of only 6 UK schools to
have been awarded Global Showcase School status by Microsoft for our innovative
approach to education and the use of ICT in education.

Sandymoor School is
a brand new school; we were founded under the government's Free Schools
programme, a mechanism that allowed schools to be set up in response to local
need and without the control of local government. An initiative based on the
Scandinavian Free School & US Charter School models.

Three years ago, we
opened in temporary cabins, steel boxes bolted together and fitted out with
basic services. It did not stop us having strong ambitions for our students and
we grew. 18 months ago, work started on a brand new building, where I worked with
architects to match our vision and our ambitions. We now have a building that
would qualify for the Internet of Things - a smart building … … CO2 measurement
& Temperature sensors in all rooms,lights that dim if it's bright outside, etc.

We are pretty much
unique - a brand new school, built entirely from the ground up, metaphorically
as well as literally, proposed and founded by 5 local parents, ordinary people,
mums and dads who just wanted to make a difference.

There are very few
opportunities these days to be involved in the start of something as big, as
ambitious, as grand as starting a brand new school! Our founders are still very
much involved in the school, all being on the governing body and very actively
taking interest in their school. The school sits in a relatively new suburb of
the New Town of Runcorn. A twin of Milton Keynes, Runcorn was built after the
second world war to provide housing to the bombed out estates of Liverpool.
Still growing today, the suburb of Sandymoor is the last growth area for the
town. Sandymoor currently has around 900 houses, but is part of the
government's house building strategy and is scheduled to grow to over 2,000
homes over the short term. The vast majority of the homes in Sandymoor are
classed as medium density, higher status family homes & they are very
sought after houses.

To the west of the
school, we have, however, housing estates built when volume was the only
measure for housing and some of the estates within a mile of the school rank as
some of the most deprived communities in the UK.

One of the school's
great strengths is our diversity and our school community. We have students
from all backgrounds in the school and almost all of them local. Over 70% of
our young people live within a mile of the school. In an area of the UK where
social mobility is at its worst, we are an example of aspiration, with high
standards of academic, social and personal development expected from all our
community.

One final piece of
our local setting is our proximity to the world-renowned Daresbury Science and
Innovation Centre; the home of the Particle Accelerator and still a world leader in scientific innovation.

The founders set a
very strong and ambitious vision for the school; to be an 11-18 school,
producing intelligent, employable global citizens that demonstrate social
competence, a desire for learning and respect for each other and the world
around us.

And there is so much
in this statement:

In a world where we
cannot predict 6 months ahead, we are, as educators, trying to do the
impossible. We are having to prepare our young people to do jobs that don’t
even exist yet, using technologies that haven't been invented yet, solving
problems we don’t even know about yet.

And with technology
as it is, we are now living in a global village, with communication around the
world virtually instantaneous, news beamed around the world as it happens and
workers engaged in collaboration with colleagues in almost any continent. How
do we prepare our young for this?

With all of that,
and the world they are inheriting from us, they also need to be more socially
aware, more tolerant and accepting of others than ever before. Xenophobia and
fear is driving a wedge between people and we need to be providing
opportunities for our young to learn from our mistakes and build a better
future.

Now, I am not a
technologist, never have been and never will be. I am an educationalist.
Passionate about helping our young to be the best they can be. And I believe
that the only way we will be able to do this, in our world, is through engaging
fully with technology.

Our ICT strategy has
this as its opening statement:

ICT alone will not
transform learning, but learning will not be transformed without it.

This is their world,
immersed in technology, the world at their fingertips. We need to embrace this
world of theirs and engage with them on their territory.

Blended learning,
where technology is used, when (& only when) it is better than other means.
When it allows us to do things previously unimagined.

Young people, all
over the world, are fundamentally no different to how they've always been; shy,
uncertain, desperate to be different, individual, determined to grow up before
they are ready and ultimately complex, amazing and totally unpredictable.

But they now live
out their lives as much, if not more online, in the digital world. They are the
digital natives, whilst we are immigrants in this brave new world.

However, just
because they are the natives, it does not mean that they will embrace every new
initiative, or 'learn more' just because it's delivered using technology. That
is the mistake that has been made so many times before, with the results that
there are numerous research papers that state that technology does not improve
student outcomes.

In fact, they will
defend their territory as fiercely as any pack of lions seeing off a rival
group. Why on earth would they want to allow into their social world the dull
duty of learning without a fight?

And that's why, I
think, we at Sandymoor are starting to get it right. By being a brand new
school, we have been able to think carefully about everything we have done;
imagine it completely anew and ensure that every element of Sandymoor is fit
for purpose as a 21st Century School.

We start every
planning exercise with a blank sheet of paper and ask the question; what do we
want this to look like, in the modern world. We do not automatically assume
that the way things have been done before are still fit for purpose. Where they
are, we use them, but only after testing them against our vision.

What do we want a
21st century student to do, to be, to experience? How do we help them adapt
their skills to make them accept the use of technology in their world?

And that has to
influence, in fact shape, the whole infrastructure.

First of all, we are
all, now, used to looking up the answer to something at the click of a button,
the swipe of a finger. So a teacher is no longer the gatekeeper of knowledge,
the expert and deliverer of understanding. It is no longer valid to have the
teacher stand at the front of a room, delivering material to students. The
whiteboard, let alone the interactive whiteboard, is redundant, because I can
look up the answer to a question faster than you can write the question on a
board.

At Sandymoor, we
have twin projectors at right angles to each other, which project directly onto
the wall, painted in an ultra-matt, green-tinged cream, which is, according to
research, a much easier surface to read off, without glare from a bright white
surface. And the twin projection system means that the learning experience is
an all-encompassing, immersive one.

There is no
traditional 'front of class', with no teachers' desk, either, which means that
the classroom environment has a much more collaborative atmosphere; my teachers
are very much more 'Guides on the Side', as opposed to 'Sages on the Stage'.

Getting rid of
whiteboards entirely, which in their time replaced the old black chalk board,
is a clear sign that we are starting to use technology to completely redefine
education, rather than mere modification of old habits.

But we also have to
think about what, in fact, the point of school is in the modern world. What
place does the teacher have, now? If they are no longer the gatekeeper of
knowledge, then they do have to adapt completely to a completely different
role, that of guide and mentor, helping the student to find their way, develop
their understanding and grow in independence.

The most
transformational invention of the last 50 years has to be the internet, the
'Cloud', and it is to the cloud that we have looked to ensure that we are
building for the future, ensuring capacity.

Collaboration is key
here; working together, in collaborative spaces, we grow and share and
experience more than we ever can in isolation.

But we always have
to come back to what is most important; the young people we are all doing this
for. How do we ensure that everything we do will help them grow and succeed in
their future, especially when we can't see what their future looks like?

By building a structure, in the cloud, using
collaborative spaces, we ensure that outcomes are clear and impact is strong.
Students work together, with teachers, to learn off each other, learn how to
learn and develop the skills for future growth.

The skills they
need, adaptability, mental flexibility, and perseverance, are all developed in
a curriculum focussed around collaborating in online spaces. Students can bring
in their own devices, regardless of make or model. Our wifi is designed around public
space capacity, with 1-1 infrastructure being not ambitious enough for us (I,
personally, have 4 devices that connect to wifi with me today), so we have a
complex wifi network capable of dealing with any device a student could bring
in and capacity for over 3,000 separate device connections.

We need to meet
students where they are, so one over-riding principle for me is what I call
device agnosicity. Any systems we use in school need to be accessible by
whatever the student will bring in. For us, Office 365 exemplifies this.

Against popular
convention, as I have said, our students have been resistant to embracing this,
but for two reasons;

First of all, as
I've said before, it is trespassing on their territory. We need to tread
carefully, and not assume that they want us in their space. We need to set out
our case, let them accept the need first and foremost. We have done this by
assuming a very business-like environment. All our students have the same
access & expectations on them as my staff. Homework, project deadlines,
meetings, etc., are all set with students via calendar invites. We don’t have
student planners. Communication between staff & student is via email, with
the same expectations for reading and action. There is no skin on our systems -
we don't treat them like children; there is no dancing frog or comic sans fonts
in sight. . . (Did Facebook create a young-person centric version, with silly
characters or simple fonts?)

And then secondly,
we expect them to take responsibility, to accept that they are part of the
solution, that they have to actively participate rather than just be passive
recipients of learning. That is hard work. But it is important, because it’s
about behaviour modification, about teaching them to take responsibility,
whilst there is a safety blanket around them to ensure they don't get hurt.

But they are still
children and while the social domain is very firmly theirs, we need to help and
support them, which means we need to be active in their domain. Tools such as
Yammer, in the Office 365 environment, are perfect for this, bringing the social
into the workplace.

There is also,
however, the flip side of the coin and that is the teachers themselves.

We need to ensure
that we don’t forget that there is a behavioural management change required
here too. If we are going to truly instigate transformation, we need to
support, encourage and if necessary cajole teachers into learning new ways to
be as well. There is always a workload increase when something new is
implemented, but it is important to ensure that there is a clear pathway to
smarter not harder ways of working.

Ultimately, however,
it needs a strong vision, clearly focussed, with the modern student at the
heart, to ensure that we truly transform education. And it does need
transformation, if not revolution, across the world - we are failing so many
young people and politicians talk about percentage improvements in test scores,
without really recognising that every percentage point that fails is a real
student who learns that they are not a success. . .

Technology will not
transform learning, but without it learning will not be transformed.